the claim of special uniqueness: the food revolt
To Gately’s way of thinking, this looks like catering to just the sort of classic addict’s claim of special uniqueness that it’s supposed to be Pat’s job to help break down.
Context
The program's theory of the addict's ego applied to a supper of hot dogs. The two newest residents' special-food demands — migraines from Red Dye, vegetarianism, a "rather eat a bug" — read to Gately not as preferences but as "the classic addict’s claim of special uniqueness," the conviction of being a case apart that the House exists to dismantle (Identify, don't Compare; you are not unique). The theme's insight is that terminal specialness is a symptom: the belief that your needs are exceptional is the same egotism that told you your using was different, and Pat's job is normally to break it down, not cater to it — which is exactly why her indulgence of the new girl reads to Gately as a suspect deviation from the doctrine.